


Planet of the Dead

by Ghost0



Series: Warrior of Light [3]
Category: DCU (Comics), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Evil Dead - All Media Types, Friday the 13th Series (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:08:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26653438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: Diana has been teleported to a world where the dead have returned as zombies. She stays with a group during her stay, and the horror starts to get to her
Series: Warrior of Light [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935460
Kudos: 5





	Planet of the Dead

“So, unless you want to take your chances with them down below, we can bring you inside.” The guy said to Diana. “But you have to put…the sword, away.” Diana turned back around to face the group of men in front of her. After a moment, she put her shield on her back and put her sword by her waist. The other two lowered their guns and slightly relaxed their postures. 

“How the fuck did you even get up here anyway?” The apparent leader asked the warrior princess. He was Hispanic, probably not much older than Donna Troy. But she could tell that this was a leader who has seen things that most people his age probably would never experience in their lifetime. 

Diana breathed deeply, gathering her thoughts. “I was in a warehouse, just moments ago. But there were none of…these.” She pointed down below. “And then I was on top of here. Which is where exactly?”

“Welcome to the Mall of America. Grab a Julius, buy some goofy socks.” One of the other men spoke up. “We’ll have a grand old time.”

The one closest to her waved his hand towards the one who spoke, letting to be quiet for now. Eyeing her up and down, he stared hard at her eyes. After a few moments, he gave a nod. “All right. I believe you. Don’t know how or why that happened, but it doesn’t seem like you do either. Name’s Marcus.” He held out his hand. Nodding back, she took his hand and gave a firm handshake.

“Diana. Thank you Marcus. All of you.” She looked towards the two still standing away. Turning back to Marcus, she crossed her arms. “How long-?”

“Couple of months.” The other one who hasn’t spoken yet interrupted her. “Been holed up in here ever since everything went to shit. We came across this place after the first twenty-four hours. Luckily it happened literally overnight, so there weren’t other people in here. Of course, a few other people have managed to get in here since then. We managed to get them away in time and made sure the openings were shut tight afterwards.”

Marcus nodded to support everything that was just said. “That’s Phil. And the grumpy one on the other side is Mike. We lived on the same apartment floor, but got driven out by those fuckers. Barely got here, almost got eaten alive a couple of times on the way.”

“Where did you get the weapons?” She asked.

“Turns out mall security is prepared for any scenario.” He grinned. “Plus we managed to grab something from a police car that was parked close to one of the entrances, looted it before they took notice. Thankfully we only had to use a few bullets, so still got most of our ammunition.” Marcus turned and motioned with Diana to follow. “There are a few others we took in. Come on.”

Diana followed close behind Marcus and his two allies, closing the door behind them as they descended from the roof. Walking down stairs, it was at first dark in the hallway they were walking down. But once another door opened and they stepped into the actual mall, there were a bunch of lights on. They were on the third floor, Marcus turning and taking them past several stores and restaurants. They eventually got to what seemed like a more traditional food court set-up. She saw a few people sitting around, four sitting around and another behind one of the food counters trying to make something.

“Happy Monday everybody!” Marcus called out to the others, getting them to turn their heads. “Found a newbie up on the roof – meet Diana!” He held up one arm towards her. Looking at the rest, she saw a middle aged man, two younger women and a teen boy. Marcus introduced them in order. “That’s George, the lovebirds are Mary and Sarah, and the youngster over here who cheats at Monopoly is Zack.” The kid shrugged his shoulders, not showing much of a reaction. “And I think in the back we have Steve…Hey! What are you making back there?”

“Hold on you annoying asshole!” Marcus and Diana watched a black guy walk out, holding several hot dogs and fries in both hands. “Yea, I heard your name. Call me Lyle.”

“That’s a lot of food amigo.” Marcus commented on the food he was carrying, using a couple of trays to balance everything. “You going to share some with Cindy? Oh, Cindy is his pregnant wife. Forgot to mention that.” He turned to explain the last part to Diana.

“Got a big appetite.” Lyle simply said. “Think it will happen any day now.”

“Oh shit, really?” Marcus asked. “Well, if you need any help, we could spare- “

“No! Thanks, but we got this handled.” Lyle snapped, turning and walking away briskly. Diana eyed him a bit, a little wary of how quickly he had refused. Maybe it was simply being trapped in a place like this for months. Marcus turned back around, shrugging his shoulders. 

“That’s the whole gang then. If you want, you can get yourself familiar with everyone. The boys and I are just going to make sure all the entrances and exits are secure.” Nodding and waving to everyone, he turned around and went in search of stairs down to the other floors. Diana faced the others, grabbing a seat and sitting near the other two women.

“How long have you been out there?” Mary asked Diana.

“Not long.” Diana answered truthfully. 

“Have you had to fight a lot of them?” Her partner Sarah asked, noticing her unique method of combat weaponry. 

Diana thought about how to answer for a moment. “Some.” There was some truth in her answer. Not the first time she had to fight the dead brought back, but she imagines that none of them outside right now have any black rings. “How have all of you managed being inside a place like this for so long?”

The two women looked at each other, Sarah shrugging her shoulder. “You kind of have to at this point. George over there is mute and Zack will probably take a while before he starts talking to you.” She looked over at the teen who had grabbed a book from a nearby store and was looking through it. “But you find things to do to help pass the time. Make up your own games, trying and find hobbies. I guess from that perspective, we kind of have an advantage being in a place like this.”

Diana nodded. Looking around, it was a little eerie how quiet a huge place like this was with so very few people inside. Turning back around, she asked “How did you come across this place?”

Mary grabbed Sarah’s hand before answering. “We were packing up to go away for the weekend. The next morning, as we started to bring our stuff down to the car, one of them attacked us and tried bite me. We just ran.” Mary took in a breath before continuing. “Spent a couple days just jumping around, no real goal and just using whatever was nearby to fight them off. We got here and Marcus convinced his friends to open up and let us inside. Not too long after the others ended up here more or less the same. I thin Lyle and Cindy were being chased by the most before they pulled them inside.” Sarah rubbed Mary’s back and nodded. 

“So you have no plans on leaving?” Diana asked.

“Leave for where?” Sarah responded. “We got everything we need here. Besides, we wouldn’t be able to get far before they catch us.” Diana stared far away at the window, looking out to the cloudy sky outside. 

******

In a small suburb, the living dead walked and moaned, a few of them trying to tear door open and see if there was anyone inside. They shuffled and walked, all though they will start sprinting in an instant once they see the potential for food. A few of them even started to sprint as they saw someone approach them in the middle of the street. The dark night made it seem like it was a living person. But once they got closer, they realized that this wasn’t food. This thing had the stench of death, the stench that surrounds all of them. Recognizing him as one of them, they left him alone.

But he wasn’t like them. Not completely anyway. He had a little more intelligence, carried a weapon with him. Looking around, he tried to pick up on a trail. Something to point him in the right direction. Then he got it! That instinctual feeling of where she was. He began to move forward. Eventually he will cross the river where on the other side lies highways, an airport, but more importantly the most famous mall in the country.

******

Several days have passed by since Diana first appeared on the roof. For the most part, there was a routine or pattern that happened across every day. Lyle would come out a few times, one in the morning and one in the evening for sure. Grab food and other stuff his hidden pregnant wife would need. There were a couple of times where Marcus and his partners would go out and check on all the blocked openings in the mall. And there were hobbies that everyone liked to do. George had a DVD player that he got from an electronics store and watched movies and shows. But he would mingle every so often, despite not being able to speak. Diana knew some sign language that she taught the others and they could understand the general idea of whatever he wanted to say. Turns out he knew a bunch of jokes, but most of it had to be written down and shown, with the punchline being told using sign. But he did generally help lighten the mood.

Mary and Sarah were the ones that probably spent most of their time with Diana. But they also made sure to find plenty of time for themselves. Whenever Diana would try and find some space to practice fighting technique or just do some training, she would spy them in a store. Sometimes they just browsed and experimented with some board games they never heard of. A few times they would put on a sort of fashion show for themselves, but purposefully choosing the weirdest outfits or just tried a random combination of clothing. Diana would be invited to a couple and found it fairly enjoyable. All though she admits that they probably got more fun out of it than her. Through conversations Diana learned that Mary was a middle school teacher and that Sarah was a paralegal. It might be because of those professions that they spent a lot of time in the Barnes & Noble located on the first floor, trying to see who would read through the entire stock first. Probably the only other person who has read more books than those two is Zach.

The young teenager did slowly relax around the new warrior. The best example of that was when Diana discovered he had set up a couple of basketball hoops on the main floor and was practicing shooting. Asking if she could join, the two played some one on one. Diana admittedly never really played Basketball before, which explains how Zack managed to get the first couple of points. But she definitely knew how to play based on catching some of it back home, so she quickly caught up and surpassed him. Afterwards she got him to talk about some of his favorite books and other interests he had before the outbreak. She even taught him a few self-defense moves he could use in case he ever needed to fight back. 

It was clear though that even though they were getting along, there was an underlying feeling of depression among the survivors. Yes, they were alive, but they are trapped, unable to have the freedom to go out into the world that is now in ruin. There have been attempts to use a radio to see if they can make contact with anyone else. But so far every attempt has been futile. Diana could tell that there was a growing sense of hopelessness among them. While she certainly has a fair chance of going out there and find help, maybe even someone that could help her get back home, she can’t abandon them. Sure, they will be safe with Marcus and his friends. But to leave anyone trapped like this felt wrong to her. But she knows she can’t stay here forever either.

The conflicting thoughts raged on as Diana found herself on the main floor staring outward. She was far enough away and positioned where she could look outside to the shuffling bodies but they shouldn’t be able to sense her. She was inside a store and looked out into the first level of a dark parking ramp. She heard footsteps approach her from behind. She knew it wasn’t one of the zombies, based on how fast the person was going. If it was, it would be running after her based on the accounts of the others that she has heard. She could also tell by the poor reflection in the glass doors that it was Marcus who was standing off to the side and behind her, looking out to the walking dead.

“When there is no more room in Hell, the Dead will come back and roam the Earth.” Diana turned to Marcus. “My uncle was one of those doom and gloom preachers. Real life of the party. Died from a heart attack a couple of years ago. I feel like this would strangely fill him with a sense of righteousness.”

Diana thought for a moment. “Even the most prepared find themselves overwhelmed when the prophecy they insist is coming finally arrives.” She turned back to look out. 

“How much longer until you decide to leave?” Marcus asked point blank. That was the only thing he felt like someone would her would be tortured over, seeing as how she is mindlessly watching those things outside. She let out a slow, deep sigh before turning around.

“I don’t want to leave at all. But I know I can’t stay here.” She told him. “I have to find a way back home.”

Marcus held up his hand. “Don’t need to explain yourself. If I could go to a world where everyone I knew was still alive, I would take the first chance I could. Just please don’t go off without saying goodbye, that’s all I’m asking.” Diana nodded in agreement. Then a thought popped up.

“Speaking of everyone, have you see Lyle today? I usually would have seen him at least once by now, but I haven’t seen him anywhere today.”

“Yea, I noticed that too. I heard some yelling coming from one of the second floor stores not too long ago. My guess is that labor finally came.” He motioned with his head back into the mall. “Let’s go see them, maybe they could use a hand. We might not be doctors, but we could make ourselves useful.” Diana followed Marcus back into the giant mall, going up another floor and coming across a Macy’s store. Heading inside, they could hear noise. But it wasn’t the cries of a woman becoming a mother. It was more animal like, angry and aggressive. They looked at each other, Marcus pulled out his gun and took lead as Diana followed close behind. They turned a corner and saw a bed with a woman tied to it. At least, it was once a woman. Her stomach had been cut open and blood was all over the white sheets. One look at her showed that she had become a zombie. She snarled and tried to lunge forward, but the straps on her wrists and ankles held tight. Lyle had his back to them, holding something in his arms.

“Lyle buddy…” Marcus spoke calmly, trying to not say anything to upset the man standing in front of him. “How are you doing? Do you mind if I ask what’s going on?”

“She tried to run as fast as she could.” Lyle spoke as if he was under some sort of spell. Which could be a possible explanation for how this world ended up as it did. But hearing those first few words told Diana that she shouldn’t be thinking anything right now, just listen and watch. “One of the ones managed to bite her. She hid it from you, we didn’t want to be turned away. She was fine…then the due date got closer…she turned a few days ago. But the baby still moved. Trying to see me.” As he slowly turned, he held a small body in his hands. There was no movement within the blanket, but simply seeing made a cold shiver go down Diana’s spine. Marcus formed a cross over his body as he realized just what exactly Lyle was holding.

“Lyle…” Diana held up both of her hands. “Let’s put the child down and just talk about what we think should happen next.” Lyle shook his head slowly, knowing exactly what has to happen. He pulled one hand up, one that held a gun. Marcus, reacting on instinct, moved quicker and shot him in the head. Diana, also reacting on instinct, rushed forward and grabbed the child before Lyle’s body hit the ground. The zombie tied up snarled but was then made silent as she heard Marcus fire another shot. Standing back up, she moved part of the blanket off the child’s face.

It looked dead. Dark grey skin and its eyes were closed. She couldn’t feel a heartbeat or see any signs of breathing. She held it out in front of her in her hands, the blanket letting the top part of the child’s body be exposed. Marcus got closer to see, mesmerized by what Diana was holding. But then the eyes opened and it cried out in anger. It reached out to try and attack Diana, but with no success. She saw out of the corner of her Marcus raising a gun, ready to shoot a third bullet.

“What are you doing?” She turned and moved so that her body was in front of the barrel. “It’s still a child!”

“One that will eat us, yea.” He responded.

“There could be someone out there who is trying to find a cure for whatever started this. It can be changed!”

Marcus, looking like the burden of the world was on his shoulders, simply stared helplessly at Diana. “It was born dead. There is no changing back.” Diana stared in fury, but a part of her knew that there was truth in what he said. She turned back to the fighting child. Grabbing a scarf, she tied the baby to the arm of its dead mother. She turned to look at Marcus. She will not be a part of this, but she knows she can’t force him to change his mind. She walked away, getting further away. Marcus at least waited for her to be out of the store before aiming the gun at the tied up child.

After the third gunshot died out, the other two armed with gun came running over. “The fuck is going on?” She looked at them, crossing her arms.

“Lyle was hiding his wife. She had turned into a zombie a while ago.” They stared at her in disbelief and shock. They turned to see Marcus walk back out, one look at him and they saw there was nothing to disbelieve in. They waited for him to say something, but before he could, glass was broken.

They all turned to the direction of the noise, a nearby hallway that connected to a skyway to the parking ramp. They began to move towards it, aiming their guns toward the opening. The zombie that stepped into the open wasn’t the kind that they were mentally prepared for. This one hid his face, held a weapon. It walked, not making any sudden movements. He turned his head, facing the woman who had escaped him twice now. Tightening his grip on the machete, it was clear he was going to try and make sure there isn’t a third escape. Diana grit her teeth and pulled out her sword, charging forward at her pursuer. 

She pushed him back, managing to get him retreating backwards. As she did so, she heard the sound of other zombie recognize the new opening and charged through it. They ran as fast as their decaying bodies would allow, sometimes even pushing beyond that. For some reason, they ignored the battle going on between the two from other worlds and went in all the other directions. Marcus and his men had to step back and fire at the same time. Diana tried to turn around and thought about helping them. But she knew she could only take her eyes away for a moment, for when she turned back around, a blade was starting to cut through the air for her neck. She crouched down, swiping her leg to make him fall. Getting on top, she pierced her sword through his heart. But this move that would normally bring victory became hollow when she realized that it changed nothing.

He punched her off of him, but not before she used her sword to cut one of the straps of his mask. Falling down and in front of him, she got visual confirmation on his appearance. Decayed and twisted, grey in color. Just as monstrous and inhuman as the monsters swarming past them. But this changed nothing, they continued to clash and fight, Diana trying to use her speed to her advantage. But the other zombies started to rush around their battle, limiting the room she had. So the man managed to grab her and pin her back onto the ground. Dropping his machete, he got on top and used his other hand to repeatedly punch her face over and over. Blows that would kill most mortals weren’t quite so effective against Wonder Woman. But even she was starting to feel the pain radiating through her head, hearing the ringing in her ears. Another punch knocked her out. But before the would be victor could land a killing blow, they were taken by the red glow. The zombies free to charge forward where they once were. The machete and mask, icons of Diana’s foe, left with them to whatever world they ended up next.

******

The doors of the barn waved back and forth, letting the wind do what it wanted. The servant stood in front of the doors, looking inward and down to the hole in the ground. What once was the secret lair for an otherworldly object was now just an empty hole. Taken from its spot and hidden in another location, no doubt far away where it could never be used against the being who has started a dark mission against its inhabitants. He pulled his eyes up from the hole and looked forward.

“I know you can hear me.” He said out loud, despite no one being hear him. “You felt my presence the moment I touched foot on the soil surrounding what you used to call home. No doubt you wouldn’t hesitate to rip me in half.” He grinned as he got ready for the next part. “But then I wouldn’t be able to warn you. There is a warrior jumping from planet to planet. Someone who would probably end up on your planet sometime soon and will do everything she can to kill you. But I am offering you the chance to go to her and kill her for yourself.”

A gust of wind pushed against his back, making his cloak ripple in front of him. He slowly turned around and looked up. In the air was the red caped murderer, the alien, that once went by the name of Brandon Breyer.


End file.
